“I never saw so many strong men sobbing at once." Nancy Banks Smith, The Guardian

Point of View, a PBS program, is showing an acclaimed film on the Tuesday, June 21, 2011. We've reproduced the description of making the film from the blog of the filmakers:

Making Kings Of Pastry

Award winning filmmakers and partners, D A Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, (Don't Look Back, The War Room) take us behind-the-scenes with exclusive first time access to France’s oldest and most prestigious pastry competition — the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France — an epic three-day test of passion, perseverance, artistry, and technical skill. The blue, white and red striped collar worn on the jackets of the winners is more than the ultimate recognition for every pastry chef — it is a dream and an obsession. Similar to the Olympics, the contest takes place every four years and requires that the chefs not only have extraordinary talent and nerves of steel but also a lot of luck.

Director Chris Hegedus grew up with pastry in her genes. Like most of the chefs in Kings of Pastry, her grandfather apprenticed at 16 with a baker in Europe. He immigrated to New York City and in the 1920s he opened two, elegant confectionary ‘tea rooms’ where he created his signature chocolates and ice creams. Her great-grandfather was chef for one of New York City’s most famous German restaurants and cooked for the Roosevelt family during the summers at their home on Campobello Island. On the other side of the family was Chris's Hungarian grandmother, whose reputation for delicious cooking and baking was famous throughout her Eastern European community in Bethlehem, Pa. "When other kids in the 1950s were eating Betty Crocker birthday cakes mixed from a box I would be sent a ten-layer hazelnut 'Dobos Torte' sponge cake with a caramel filling, mocha buttercream icing and a burnt-sugar glaze. Every year we would count how many layers Grammy would make for the cake. She lived until she was 94 so we felt blessed!"

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